Lyda was the daughter of Ella Jane Ward and James William Joiner; sibling of Comilla Ethel, Annie Eugene, Oillie Zeola, Effie Mae and Grady Joiner; the granddaughter of Charles Rufus Ward and his 1st wife, Sarilla Catherine Ray; the g-granddaughter of Charles Jackson Ward and Mary Elvira "Polly" Hensley and the gg-granddaughter of John and Katie McDaniel Ward, Cherokee Nation.